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Hey guys I have an 04 WRX JDM ej205 swap. I changed my oil on November 8 about 3000km ago, using amsoil 5w30. Every time before I drove the car I wait at least 5-15 mins before driving to let the engine warm up. I've notice the oil isnt a nice gold anymore it more of a burgundy which indicates that my car needs an oil change. If anyone has any knowledge of why my oil degraded so quickly, I would appreciate the info. I also want to mention that since I've done the JDM swap 1 year ago I have had to top up my coolant, would say I've gone from having "max" coolant in the reservoir to "min".

You didnít say which Amsoil. Amsoil has 4 5W-30ís and the only one that I would use in your application is the Euro version. Any of the others will likely shear to a 20 grade even on a short interval. Thatís not something that you can tell by looking, smelling, or tasting though. Color can be from the additives or it just means that the oil is doing its job and holding contaminants in suspension.

How oil looks isn't always an indication of its expected remaining life. Oils will oxidize over time turning brown and can change color from debris and contamination. Take a diesel engine as an example, perform an oil change on an older diesel engine and within a week it will look like its been in there for tens of thousands of miles but still have a full service interval left. With the additive packages and formulations in modern oils the only true way to know when an oil has degraded beyond use is through lab testing. Blackstone-labs has always done a good job for me.

Is there any reason why you idle the car for so long? The computer is designed to warm the car up as fast as possible as it does not run as efficiently cold. It does this by enriching(adding extra fuel) to speed up the process. as the engine is cold you will have an incomplete burn and excessive blow by. This in turn will degrade your oil even faster. A minute or two is usually enough time(depending on how cold it is) as the oil will have circulated enough and most likely warmed enough to be able to drive conservatively for the remaining warm up. What I believe is more important from a safety standpoint is engine load and boost levels during warm up.

Stop idling 5-15 minutes before driving. That's why your oil looks like chocolate milk. All that old engine idling is dumping excess fuel and moisture down the cylinder walls into the oil.
You are actually doing more damage by idling that long on a cold engine than just idle 30 seconds and start driving. All that rich fuel is washing oil film off the cylinder walls letting the piston rings dry wipe the cylinder walls. So stop doing long warm ups.

Read the owners manual....it basically states, "start, let idle a short bit, don't beat on it until up to temp".
Agreed, the owners manual for your VIN will not take into account your new JDM engine, but the basics are the same.

BTW.....how do you know the oil is 100-120*F? Did you add an oil temp gauge?

Stop doing that, you are wasting your time and it's worse on your old motor than just starting it up and driving. Just don't romp on it until it is warm.

Also, unless you are actually getting an oil analysis that says you oil is degraded, you have no idea what you are talking about. Send a sample in and start there. My Ford takes 4 gallons of oil and it looks like it's full of crud after one trip around the block. Doesn't mean it's bad...

If you want clean, fresh looking oil all the time (which is a HUGE waste of effort) then the only way to do that is to change it every week like insane people do. This makes sense on a 100% racecar that sees redline all day long, this does not make sense on your zippy commuter/grocery getter.

Read the owners manual....it basically states, "start, let idle a short bit, don't beat on it until up to temp".
Agreed, the owners manual for your VIN will not take into account your new JDM engine, but the basics are the same.

BTW.....how do you know the oil is 100-120*F? Did you add an oil temp gauge?

Yes I added an oil gauge and in Canada our winter temp have been below 0 įF